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Peter Morande DiscussionShop Organisation

Returning to Instrument Building Soon.

Hi All, I wanted to check in with folks in the industry and ask for some advice. I have been on a building Hiatus for a number of years now (Hand Injury, Medical Issues). Things have gotten much better, and I am fully able and capable of building once again. The 2nd biggest hurdle I have had was a lack of opportunity for shop spaces to build. I now have a viable workspace and full use of my hands once again to build. The problem is that, o…

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Hi Peter and buona fortuna on your re-start. I would look into a thickness sander, drill press and small bandsaw. And dust collection! A good router that you can also mount on a router table. A laminat…
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Tremolo issues. Not returning to "zero"

Hey guys. I guess this is an old topic, everyone talks about it but I haven't been able to find a definitive solution for this. Here's the deal: I'm working on a PRS Silversky that has this old problem that when you use the trem bar, one string (G in this case) goes sharp. I made a few adjustments to the nut as we all know that's the first thing to look at...no good. This guitar is new so I'm pretty much ruling out the bridge and posts si…

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Ian Davlin
There's the old tremsetter. I haven't seen anyone extolling their virtues any more, but here is the link to the device. https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/all-hardware-and-parts-by-instrument/…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Bending purfling- need advice

First time making purfling to match a repair. Problem: couldn’t get it to bend without delaminating and cracking. Veneer is 6 plies using 4 of SMs 0.023” and 2 maple at 0.025” cut to 1 1?2 inches wide. Glue up with Titebond Veneer glue, final stack at 0.140” thick. Let it dry 2 days, cut a few 0.090” strips, then used some super soft just at the waist and despite going very slowly the strip skewed, delaminated and started to break plies. W…

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I've never used titebond veneer glue before. But when I make purfling, I use a polyurethane glue, like gorilla glue (activated by moisture), so I can use steam to bend the purfling to the shape I need…
Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

Washburn Neck Reset

I am working on a neck reset on a Washburn Parlor - SN 283552. I have read that the 28 in the SN indicates that is was built in 1928, but the owner thinks based on her research that it was built before 1920. I am assuming a dovetail joint and that I can get into the neck joint for steaming by drilling into the 13th fret slot, but if anyone knows differently please let me know. The fingerboard extension has already separated slightly…

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Ian Davlin
Love the truss rod let in to the top!
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Weird situation with PRS SE Angelus acoustic truss rod

I've got a PRS SE A50E acoustic in with complaints of high action. Checked the relief and it was sky high. Tried to flatten it, and it wouldn't go, so I started experimenting. When there's no string tension and the (single action) truss rod is slack, there's loads of relief. Tightening the truss rod works fine and the nut turns easily until the neck is flat, then resistance goes up but the neck won't go past dead flat. It behaves as…

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Ian Davlin
With all that extra relief it's probably hard to tell, but is this a double action rod? As far as compressing into a back bow, it can be done if the untensioned relief isn't crazy. It dounds like you…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

COE follow up - AI catheter for accurately gluing braces

I’ve had success placing Titebond under top braces using an artificial insemination catheter (not the AI you thought!) The catheter is PVC, 11 inches long, has a standard Luer hub for syringes and is thermoplastic so it’s shapeable. Purchased on Amazon Weewooday 50 Pcs Disposable Artificial Insemination Rods Disposable Breeding Rod Tube Flexible Breeding Catheter Tube for Dog Goat Sheep(10.8 Inches,White) URL = https: //a.co/d/03SDiw…

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Private member DiscussionGeneral

Fret leveling questions

Hi everyone! I'm trying to wrap my head around this problem. I was doing some fret on a throwaway neck and found a couple of uneven frets in the middle of the neck. (I made sure to seat them down before levelling too!) While levelling, I came across an issue where the first few frets and the last few frets were being sanded down before the middle frets. I did make sure the neck was straight with a notched straight edge and the StewMac n…

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Ian Davlin
The notched straight edges isn't the best tool for finding the starting position before a fret leveling. Primarily what you need to know is, without the truss rod being either completely loose or rea…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Steam Box Idea... What's wrong with this idea?

Speaking of Trevor Gore... I've started using falcate bracing on my ukuleles and in making the braces, 3 strips of .0625" spruce are bent and then put in a bent lamination glue up rig using epoxy. Bending spruce is no fun on a hot pipe. It's slow, fussy, the fibers want to delaminate. I have been thinking about building a small dedicated steam box. Pulling all 3 of the strips out at once and bending them over a form with a metal back…

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Ian Davlin
I tried it once for trying to bend mandolin sides. This was in 2006, back when the internet wasn't nearly as useful as it is today, so the attempt was pretty incomplete I think. If I remember correctl…